Fading Blindness
by SeaDevil
Summary: This is a companion fic to Beast Queen, and will as such be slightly incomprehensible if you haven't read that one first. Fading Blindness will contain one-shots from the POV of side characters, giving you a peek into their minds and lives that would have been impossible through Tigris' eyes.
1. First Clarity: Theron

**I'm terribly sorry that this is not the next chapter of Beast Queen, but that one is giving me great difficulties, and I wanted to give you _something _on BQ's anniversary, so here is a little peek into Theron's mind during chapters 22 and 23!**

**(And I know I promised Robin or William first, but this one just _flowed_ for me, so it got finished first ^^" I promise that at least one of the other two will be up soon; I have already started working on them.)**

**Beware that this is un-betaed and barely even proofread; it was late in the night for me when I finished and uploaded it.**

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**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from ½ Prince is not mine; it's Yu Wo's.**

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First Clarity:  
Theron

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed as I stood before the way-too-pretentious mahogany doors inscribed with the family crest.

_Seriously, she is his wife. What could possibly be so hard about handing her a couple of papers?_

I let out a imperceptible groan as I let the hand fall from the top of my head and dragged it down my face.

_Never mind, stupid question._

I knew very well what the problem was. They might think that they were being subtle about it, but the truth was that just about the whole household knew. I would not even have asked myself the question if not for the fact that this little detour cut down on my Kitten-time. That tended to make me a bit irritable even in the best of circumstances, and considering the fact that it had been so long since the last time I been able to properly meet her (that is, stay and talk, tickle and tease her, and not just say hi, hug her and then leave again) and that I had been stuck in those infernal meetings, surrounded by _squabbling, insignificant, pathetic idiots_ with an _incredibly _inflated sense of self-importance for the past _month_, well...

I admitted to myself that I might be a bit unreasonable.

That minor piece of self-reflection done with, I resolved to just get it over with. Dawdling outside the doors would not exactly get me to my Kitten faster, even if it would keep me away from mother, who had had a very unpredictable temper lately.

Straightening out from my slouch – mother was ever one for appearances, and if it would keep her off my back for long enough that I would be able to slink out of her office, then I would gladly ignore my stiff and tired body for a while – I strode forward and pushed the doors open.

"Mother! Father asked me to..." I trailed off as I took in the empty room. Shrugging, I made my way over to her desk and borrowed a post-it and a pen before sitting down on her ridiculously uncomfortable throne-like chair-thing. I had always wondered how she could stand spending hours in the thing. Twirling the pen, I contemplated what to write.

I will admit to wanting to get back at her for getting Tigris injured. And for making Rizza cry (no matter how insufferable she could be, she was still my sister and _nobody_ was allowed to make her cry, damn it), as well as the usual shit going on between her and Father, I suppose. Not that she knew that I was aware of any of this, but point was that no-one touches my Kitten and gets away with it. Not even her mother.

"Hmmm... well, I won't be here when she reads it anyway. Might as well go all out," I mused. Thinking out loud was a bad habit of mine that I blamed on my adorable Kitten. She was so silent all the time – though especially in the beginning, only answering direct questions as succinctly as possible and never taking an initiative – that I had gotten used to filling out silences with my thoughts in the hopes of provoking some sort of reaction from her. Luckily, it only showed when I was with her or completely alone, otherwise it would have turned into a problem. Smiling wryly to myself, I put my mind back to my task.

"Let's see..." Putting the pen to the note, I dictated the message out loud to myself so that it would get the right amount of insolence; that is, enough to drive mummy dearest up a wall but too little to have her direct her anger at anyone other than me. "'Hiya! These are the notes from the meetings you have been too snooty and lazy to attend. Dad, being the awesome person he is, took them for you despite how hard it was to sort out the semi-useful stuff from the worthless shit. The things family do for each other, huh? Not that you'd know. Strange, that. One could almost think you didn't have a heart or something. Which is ridiculous, because you clearly still have a pulse. Oh, well.' ...damn, I'm out of room. Umm... I guess a 'Ta!' will do to round it up?" Nodding, I jotted it down and squeezed my name into the remaining space with a flourish before leaning back and reading through the note. "Too much, perhaps? Hmm..." Tilting my head and squinting at the paper, I pulled it away from the other notes.

"Nah, it'll work if I put some grammatical and spelling errors in there to pull her attention a bit," I decided and started transferring the text to a new note, this time sprinkling it with errors. "There! That should do it." Putting the note on the wad of papers I had brought with me, I tucked my draft into my pocket before haphazardly throwing down the wad of notes onto the table.

Mother had never liked disorderly things.

My work done, I made my way to Tigris' basement, doing my best to keep my speed to normal levels. When I got there, though (narrowly avoiding a collision with a maid carrying a pile of cloth on my way), my Kitten was nowhere to be seen, and if she had waited a single moment longer in coming down the stairs, I would probably have done or thought something _really _stupid.

Well, stupid_er,_ I guess.

Let it be known that it is not a good idea to give a trained killer surprise bear hugs.

Even if the trained killer in question is your sister and can be thoroughly adorable at times.

Victor had always told me that my intelligence tended to be cut in half if I so much as thought about her, and I could never quite prove him wrong, since that would be denying the promise that I had made to myself on that day so very long ago.

_Tigris would always come before everything else. No matter what._

If that meant that a fair part of my mental capacities were always devoted to keeping her as safe and happy as I could, then so be it.

Luckily for me, my Kitten is good at assessing situations very quickly. While tense and ready to retaliate when I swept her up, she quickly relaxed when I laughed and welcomed her back.

"Kitten! There you are! I've missed you!"

I had. I really had. I could never fully relax, fully focus, if I could not be entirely certain that she was okay, that she was safe. I could only do that when I was with her. My joy was halted in its tracks when she replied, though.

"Brother."

Her voice was flat; monotone. Lifeless. I felt dread and panic, horror, fear, anger, _rage _swell up from the pit of my stomach.

_What did they do?! What did they do to her? She shouldn't be like this! They dare... they __dared__ harm her._ **_**They dared harm her, when she stands under my protection?!**_**

Realizing the dangerous path my thoughts were taking, I quickly reigned them in before they could proceed further. She was very sensitive to emotions. I could _not_ afford to force her further in behind her walls right now.

Gently setting her feet back on the ground and loosening my embrace, I let my hands rest on her shoulders, unwilling to let her go entirely and hoping that my touch might help her break out of her shell. Scanning her for any injury, any irregularity that might have forced her into this state, I greeted her again, more subdued this time.

"Hey." I tried to smile, I really did. I knew that me smiling and goofing off usually helped her get back to normal; it is the whole reason as to why I do it, really. I was not naturally as happy-go-lucky as I was – or at least acted – around her.

I was just so _afraid_.

There are not many things which frighten me. That which would usually cause people to break down in terror, I tended to see as nothing but a challenge to overcome; something which was a very useful trait to have in this cut-throat, almost lawless place, but this was my _sister._

My sweet, precious sister who had never done anything wrong, who only wanted to be held and loved and _needed_ and whom the world, no, _her own mother_, had never been fair to.

I feared for her.

I feared she would one day loose sight of her emotions, of her will, and become nothing but the tool mother had tried to craft her into.

Every time she retreated into that shell, I feared for her. I knew that she only did it to protect herself, to protect her sanity against the horrors she was subjected to, but I could not help but feel like that emotionless state did more harm than good.

Knowing that I had to ask a question in order to get a response from her when she was like this, I tentatively asked;

"How are you feeling?"

I felt hope surge up when she delicately wrinkled her brow and cocked her head slightly to the right before uncertainly answering;

"Better?" That fragile hope did not last for long, however, because all emotion swiftly fell off her face after that. "Vincent Reyforth called me out to his lab and healed all damage acquired during, between and after the last two missions assigned to me, so I am fine."

It took everything I had to force a smile back on my face after that.

_Two__ missions?! Wait, no, focus on the good. She is not injured anymore. She has been healed. That is good._

It got a bit easier to keep the smile in place.

"Good. I was worried for you, Tigris."

_I still am. Why have you shut off your emotions? What happened to you, Kitten?_

She replied as I tried to search her eyes for answers, hindered by the lifeless blue lenses covering up her natural warm amber.

"I apologize for worrying you."

I felt my throat constrict and pulled her into another embrace so that she would not see the tears in my eyes and so that I could assure myself that she was really, truly all right... or at least that she would be, once I found a way to break her out of her shell.

She should not have to apologize. It was not her fault. It was _never _her fault. I hated that she could not see that. She had not chosen the life she was leading; it had been forced upon her.

And I hated myself for being unable to do anything about it.

Or at least nothing that mattered.

Burying my nose into her soft hair, I fought past the lump in my throat to respond to her apology.

"You don't have to apologize to me, Tigris. I thought I already told you that."

I clenched my jaw, trying to bite back the tears, when her muffled and lifeless reply sounded from her resting place on my chest, sending soft vibrations through me.

"You did."

I forced a chuckle simply to keep from sobbing as I gave myself a mental slap. I had to pull myself together, or else I would be unable to help her.

Plastering a big grin onto my face, I ruffled her hair - thankfully let out of the ponytail she had probably had it in earlier if judging by the hair band sitting on her wrist – to fluff it up again from where I had flattened it.

"Great! Just checking! We can't have you forgetting stuff, now can we? You already seem old enough with all those white hairs of yours without us adding dementia to the list, don't you think?" It was nonsense, really. I was back to simply filling up the silence, hoping desperately that something I said in my ramblings would jolt her out of her current state.

Desperately searching for something more to say, I latched on to the card I could see by her bed. The Naming Day card I had written for her. Her present! _Second Life_. That might induce a reaction, especially if she had tried it out. I still wanted to kick myself for not coming up with the idea earlier. It wasn't the freedom she deserved, but it was _something. _

"Anyway, what did you think about the present? You did open it, right? Because I'll have you know that I won't take it back even if you didn't!"

Really, I know that she means well, but Tigris had a bad habit of not accepting presents. I humoured her, sometimes, simply to make her feel better, but this was the one present I would _force_ on her, if need be. She _needed_ that game. She needed to know what it was like to have freedom and friends. She needed to understand that _this_, what she had now, was _not_ okay. That a human being should not live like this; imprisoned and used by her own family as if she were nothing more than a convenient beast.

My musings were interrupted when Tigris decided to collide with my chest, full-force.

"Oof... easy there, Tigris... I'm not as durable as-" I stopped myself as I noticed that she was trembling. "Hey, what's wrong?"

The weak laugh she gave me in response to that did in no way ease my worry, even if I was elated by the fact that I seemed to have broken through to her. That belief was reinforced when she gave a strangled;

"You used way too much tape, Theron."

I could not help it. I laughed.

_She's back, she's back, she's back!_

I threw my arms around her and hugged her tightly.

_She is finally back. My sweet, sweet kitten._

_I missed you._

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****The End!****

****I hope you liked it! I like Theron. He's an interesting and complicated character, and I hope I did him justice, but he may have turned out slightly different in print compared to how he appears in my head. Well, no matter. I can always poke about in this later on when I have had some sleep.****

****Oh, and don't worry about the "Victor" character mentioned. He'll be explained later on ^^****

****Anyway, if you'd drop a review on your way out, I'd be really, really happy!****


	2. Second Clarity: William

**I promised you William soon, and here he is! Not quite as soon as I'd hoped, but within the month, at least! That should almost be celebrated despite this chapter's shortness :3**

**Speaking of short: this might be a good time to inform you that while BQ has a set length of its chapters (4 to 6 pages), FB doesn't, so some of the entries in here are going to be really short. I doubt that I'll exceed BQ's maximum of 6 pages in here, though. I set that limit because I think that the chapters get hard to manage if they get any longer :/**

**But I won't hold you any longer! Just let me stick a disclaimer in here, and I'll let you get on with your reading.**

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**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from anywhere other than Beast Queen is not mine, and I am as such unable to make a profit from this. Yet. Some day in the far, _far_ future, when I have finished BQ and all its sequels, I shall edit out all the ½ Prince stuff and publish it.**

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Second Clarity:  
William

I groaned as I stretched out in my chair, producing a series of pops as my spine loosened up, before grimacing and closing my eyes against my pounding headache. Sitting hunched over a keyboard for hours on end in near-darkness was never the brightest idea.

Definitely not, I concluded as my stomach growled in protest. I threw a glance at the clock, containing a wince as my eyes once again focused on the bright screen. Whoops, I sheepishly admitted to myself. Missed dinner. Should probably do something about that.

Blowing away some annoying strands of hair from my face – I really had to see about getting a haircut sometime soonish – I opened up the communications tab for the team.

"Oi, Viper! You still alive on your end?"

A brief silence, and then;

"Why the hell shouldn't I be?" Grinning at his waspish tone (the irritable man would probably never admit it, but he had taken water over his head this time, and however hard he worked the rest of us, we all knew that he was being even harder on himself), I replied.

"Sleep deprivation? Dehydration? Starvation? Blood loss from your fingers falling off? Petrification from sitting still for too long? Brain damage from-"

"Just get to the fucking point already." I tried to contain the urge to stick out my tongue. It was not like he could see me through the screen anyway, so there was not really any point to it.

_Ah, who cares about stuff like that anyway? If he can't see me, that just means that he can't retaliate._

I stuck out my tongue.

"Johnson, stop making faces and just answer the damn question." I blinked.

"Geesh, are you a psychic or something? How'd you know?"

"Johnson..." Viper was practically growling now.

"Okay, okay, never mind then. And would you stop with the last name already? You're making me feel old." I... did not whine, because men do not whine, but that did not mean that it did not sound like a whine.

"Good. Maybe it'll stop you from acting like a five-year-old kid on a sugar rush. Now what the hell did you want? I have better things to do than entertain you if this is just another case of 'Viper! I'm so bored! Do something!'" Okay, I did not sound like that. Biting back the urge to retaliate, I huffed. Prodding Viper any further would most likely cause us to dissolve into a full-out insult war, and I was hungry, damn it, and would likely starve to death if that happened. So no retaliating. Yet, at least. I could always get back at him later, when I had gotten some food in my stomach. And some sleep.

Sleep is nice.

"Just checking in to say that I'm done for the day. I have the mother of all headaches, lost all feeling in my ass and haven't eaten in ten hours. And I don't even want to think about how long it's been since I had some proper sleep. So you can run yourself into ground for all I care, but I'm getting some well-deserved rest."

Closing the tab before he had a chance to answer (which might have been a bit petty of me, but hey, he mocked me first! ...okay, maybe not, but point still stands that he _did_), I stretched again before heaving myself out of my chair and meandering into the kitchen. I turned on the lights by pure force of habit, not realizing the implications until my poor head screamed at me in protest.

"Fuck!" Grimacing, I swiftly turned them off again. "Note to self: don't try working on three things at once, no matter how interesting they are. It results in pain." Fumbling through the dark, I soon found the cupboard I had stowed away my painkillers in. Popping one out of its packaging, I went to pour myself a glass of water. "Also; eat and drink regularly. It helps."

Downing the pill and refilling the glass – I suspected part of the headache was due to simple dehydration, and resolved to keep a bottle of water or two by my workstation from now on – I considered letting the sabotage project rest until I finished fishing up more information on my employers. I really did not have the energy to run two highly sensitive projects on the side of my usual jobs right now (even if I'd requested some down-time from the General), not with this great project under way in the one for Second Life.

_No, that won't work. They'll notice if I'm not working, and it's not exactly as if I have a good excuse readily available. "I'm sorry, but we thought that you might be a bit suspicious, so I'm currently hacking into your databases to find every single scrap of information on you, which leaves me with very little time and energy for doing what you actually hired me to do" won't go over very well, after all._

Shaking my head and resolving to not think about work or anything connected to it any more – my poor head deserved some rest – I emptied the glass again and made my way over to the fridge. Opening it and letting my eyes adjust to the pale light, I tried to find something to silence the roaring beast in my stomach with. Sadly, it had been a couple of days since I had last gone grocery shopping, and it showed. The fridge was painfully empty. Giving up the idea of a proper meal, I fished out some eggs, butter and the near-empty bottle of ketchup before putting two of my last few slices of bread in the toaster and turning on the stove. Fried eggs on toast was not exactly the fanciest or healthiest meal, but I had eaten worse, so I did not let it bother me.

Seriously, though, I needed to hurry up with the information retrieval. If I did not finish it soon, someone would notice me lurking about in their databases, and hell would rain down. Not to mention the impact the missing information was having on my contract. Usually, the General would not even consider taking a contract for any of us if the employers had not been thoroughly vetted, but every now and then situations like these would pop up and we would have no choice but to accept anyway.

I let out a frustrated groan once I realized that my thoughts had gotten stuck in work once again and I had let my eggs burn. Not much, though, so they were thankfully still edible. Loading them up on a plate and retrieving my toasts from the toaster, I haphazardly flopped down into my kitchen chair and decided that if my thoughts were so dead set on returning to work all the time, then I would simply avoid thinking at all until I had had some sleep.

Yep, that seemed like an excellent plan.

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**This took place sometime in the week after Tigris started playing SL, if there's anyone who's curious ^^**

**Also, I am terribly sorry about the delay in the main story, but Rizza is being difficult and is causing me a writer's block, since I need to introduce her soon for the sake of character and plot development, but can't come up with a way to do so that does not seem forced and weird. Again, I'm terribly sorry. I'm trying to break out of it with the help of my wonderful beta, but we aren't making much headway yet, I'm afraid.**

**That aside, though, please leave a review and tell me what you think about the quirky individual that is William?**


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